REVIEW – NOVEMBER 2012

SOCIAL JUSTICE STUDIES: THEORY, ANALYSIS, PRACTICE

AP/HREQ 3890 6.00A.

SYNOPSIS AND GENERAL OVERVIEW: THE SECOND SECTION OF THE COURSE HAS BEEN DIVIDED INTO TWO SUBJECT AREAS: (1) “STEREOTYPES” {(i) AS A WAY OF CLARIFYING THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF DISCRIMINATION {THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ETHNOCENTRISM [FEELINGS] – STEREOTYPING [IMAGES] PREJUDICE [ATTITUDES] AND DISCRIMINATION [ACTIONS]} (2) “GENDER JUSTICE” {(i) GENDER STRATIFICATION {OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION VS. GENDER DISCRIMINATION/ SEXISM} – (ii) FEMINISTS PERSPECTIVES ON GENDER EQUALITY {THE GOAL OF EQUALIZING GENDER REALTIONS AND SUPPORTING WORMEN’S NEEDS}.

THE SOCIOLOGICAL KEY è MOST SOCIAL RESEARCHERS BELIEVE THAT CLASS, RACE, AND GENDER ARE INTERLOCKING CONCEPTS è EACH IS A PIECE OF THE HUMAN PUZZLE CONNECTED TO THE OTHER — AND CHANGES IN ONE SET OF RELATIONS WILL LEAD TO CHANGES IN OTHER RELATIONS} — THE DYNAMIC INTERPLAY OF CLASS, RACE, AND GENDER LEADS TO THE STRUCTURE [AND STRUCTURED INEQUALITY] OF SOCIETY.

THE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1) LAST SECTION, WE LEARNED ABOUT THE VECTOR ANALYSIS/DYNAMICS OF CULTURE, POWER & IDEOLOGY IN THE PHENOMENON OF “SOCIAL INEQUALITY” AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF “SOCIAL STRATIFICATION SYSTEMS.”

[EX: GENDERISM è A BELIEF THAT INEQUALITY BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN IS EMBEDDED WITHIN THE CULTURE AND INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY IN WAYS THAT HAVE THE INTENT OR THE EFFECT OF MARGINALIZING OR EXPLOITING WOMEN].

2) IN THIS SECTION, OUR JOB AS STUDENTS HAS BEEN TO BEGIN TO “INTERROGATE SOCIAL FACTS” è LIKE RACIAL OPPRESSION, SEXISM AND GENDERISMè IN ORDER TO UNMASK THE CONTINGENT, CONSTRUCTED AND THUS TRANSFORMABLE NATURE OF CANADA}

PART I è RACIAL/SEXUAL STEREOTYPES

1) WE BEGAN THIS SECTION OF THE COURSE WITH THE TOPIC OF “STEREOTYPES” IN THE CONTEXT OF --- AND AS A WAY OF “CLARIFYING” --- OUR EXAMINATION OF THE PHENOMENON OF “RACISM/SEXISM AND DISCRIMINATION.”

[TO SOCIOGICALLY ISOLATE STEREOTYPES WE WILL HAVE TO BEGIN DISTINGUISHING “CATEGORIZATION” VERSUS “NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE STEREOTYPING” VERSUS “DIFFERENCES IN CULTURAL VALUES AND AESTHETIC TASTES”]

EXERCISE: EXAMINING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAKING GENERALIZATIONS BASED ON “AESTHETIC TASTES” AND “STEREOTYPES.”

FOSTER’S CONCLUSION: (1) AESTHETIC TASTE USES GENERALIZATIONS TO EXPRESS “APPRECIATION” – (2) STEREOTYPES USE GENERALIZATIONS AS “WEAPONS.”

WE ASKED THE QUESTION è WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GENERALIZATION AND A STEREOTYPE?

[SHORT ANSWER è “GENERALIZATIONS” ALLOW US TO ORDER OUR WORLD, AND SO, THEY GUIDE OUR BEHAVIOR è “STEREOTYPES” ARE OVER-GENERALIZATIONS (THAT MAKE US INTO “EXAGGERATED CARACTERIZATIONS” OF OURSELVES)]

A) GENERALIZATION – [SPECIFIC MEANING] TO ORDER OR IDENTIFY WITHOUT REGARD TO PARTICULARS. è

B) CATEGORIZATION – GENERALIZATIONS ALLOW US TO ARRANGE INTO THINGS INTO GROUPS OR CATEGORIES FOR THE PURPOSE OF INTERPRETATION (MAKING SENSE OF OUR WORLD) AND PREDICTABILITY.

***** IN THE CITY WE ARE CATEGORISERS BECAUSE WE NEED “BEHAVIOUR-PROBABILITY PROJECTIONS” èSO) WE (CITY PEOPLE) ORDER, UNDERSTAND AND ASSESS LIFE TYPICALLY AS FOLLOWS:

1) BODY – PHYSICALITY

2) CLOTHS – APPEARANCE

3) EXPRESSION – VERBAL COMMUNICATION

4) GESTURES – NONVERBAL COMMUICATION

WHEN DOES THE GENERALIZATION/CATEGORIZATION PROCESS BECOME BAD (“DISEASED==PATHOLOGICAL è EX 'CRASH' [REPLETE WITH PATHOLOGICAL THINKING THAT DEMEANS AND DEMONIZES THE 'OTHER'”)?

C) STEREOTYPE -- IS A SET OF BIASED GENERALIZATIONS ABOUT A GROUP OR CATEGORY OF PEOPLE THAT IS UNFAVORABLE, “EXAGGERATED” OR “OVER-SIMPLIFIED”.

(STEREOTYPES ARE BIASED JUDGEMENTS THAT ARE "IRRATIONAL" AND "RIGID" INSOFAR AS THEY ARE SUPPORTED BY LITTLE OR NO EVIDENCE).

SOCIOLOGICAL CONCLUSION/CONSEQUENCE: STEREOTYPES DON'T JUST IGNORE YOUR PARTICULARITY {LIKE A GENERALIZATION} THEY “DIMINISH” YOU.

STEREOTYPES DON'T HELP YOU ORDER SOCIAL LIFE {LIKE CATEGORIZATIONS} THEY SERVE TO “DEHUMANIZE” OTHERS è

[EX: THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING ETHNOCENTRIC IN AND OF ITSELF; OR BEING “EUROCENTRIC” IN LOVING MOZART OR BEETHOVEN è THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH “WEILDING” A MOZART OR BEETHOVEN AS A WEAPON, AS “PROOF” OF A GENERAL AND INHERENT RACIAL SUPERIORITY [I.E., E.G., OF THE “THIRD REICH”.]

2) WHAT ARE THE DIMINISHING EFFECTS OF STEREOTYPES

(I) THEY "CAN" REINFORCE POWER DYNAMICS OF SOCIETY SUSTAIN THE PREVAILING RELATIONSHIPS OF CONTROL, EXCLUSION, AND EXPLOITATION.

(II) THEY "CAN" INCREASE SUSPICION AND FEAR THAT UNDERLIES [ETHNIC AND RACIAL] GROUP LIFE.

(III) INTERNALIZE INFERIORITY.

(IV) LIMITS IMAGINATION AND VISION IN OTHERS AND OURSELVES.

(V) REINFORCES DIFFERENTIAL POWER STRUCTURE.

(VI) INHIBITS LIFE-CHANCES – EVERYTHING FROM THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A NUTRITIOUS BREAKFAST IN THE MORNING TO OPPORTUNITIES FOR A GOOD QUALITY LIFE-CHANCES, SOME CHILDREN WILL BE INTERMINABLY DISADVANTAGED.

(VII) OFTEN REFLECTS THE FACT THAT A PARTICULAR GROUP IS A "SCAPEGOAT" FOR ALL MANNER OF SOCIAL ILLS.

3) GENDER STEREOTYPES AND CITY LIFE

DIFFERENT KINDS OF CITIES HAVE DIFFERENT "GENDER REGIMES" – PREVAILING IDEOLOGIES OF HOW WOMEN AND MEN SHOULD THINK, FEEL, AND ACT; HOW ACCESS TO SOCIAL POSITIONS AND CONTROL OF RESOURCES SHOULD BE MANAGED; AND HOW RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN SHOULD BE CONDUCTED.

SOME MEN VIEW THE CITY AS "SEXUAL SPACE" è WHERE WOMEN ARE CATEGORIZED AS: "PROSTITUTES", "LESBIANS", "TEMPTRESSES", OR "VIRTUOUS WOMEN IN NEED OF PROTECTION" è BASED ON THEIR SEXUAL DESIRABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY.

THIS PHENOMENON OF "SEXUAL STEREOTYPES ABOUT WOMEN AS SEXUAL OBJECTS" {OBJECTIFYING WOMEN} CONTRIBUTES TO A DISTORTED UNDERSTANDING IN EVERYDAY LIFE THAT ACTUALLY SETS THE STAGE FOR A VIOLENT MALE PATHOLOGY.

EG.: TORONTO'S DEMENTED SEXUAL PREDATORS – BRANDED “CHRISTIE PITS-AREA SEX ASSAULTS” AND “THE WEST-END TRANSIT RAPIST" AND "THE EAST-END BREAK-IN RAPIST".

EX: THE MOVEMENT FROM “ANDROCENTRISM” {THE INCLINATION TO INTERPRET REALITY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF MALE INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCES} è TO “SEXISM” {THE CONSTELLATION OF BELIEFS AND PRACTICES THAT OPENLY ASSERT THE SUPERIORITY OF ONE GENDER [USUALLY MEN] OVER THE OTHER AND THE DISCRIMINATORY BEHAVIOUR THAT FLOWS FROM SUCH AND ASSERTION} TO “MISOGYNY” {THE HATRED OF WOMEN}.

4) THE BIG CITY OFFERS A PARADOX FOR WOMEN:

(A) "VULNERABILITY" èWHILE MODERN URBAN LIFE MAY PROVIDE GREATER FREEDOM AND A BROADER RANGE OF LIFESTYLE CHOICES THAN IN THE PAST, INCLUDING MORE OPPORTUNITIES IN TERMS OF PAID EMPLOYMENT OUTSIDE THE HOME, WOMEN MAY ALSO BE IN GREATER PHYSICAL DANGER, AND FEEL PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE IF THEY HAVE TO WALK ALONE AFTER DARK BECAUSE OF WORK OR SCHOOL.

ON THE OTHER HAND (POSITIVE):

(B) "FREEDOM" – CITIES ARE MORE LIKELY THAN SUBURBS TO SUPPORT A SUBCULTURE(S) OF ECONOMICALLY INDEPENDENT FEMALES. THUS, CITIES MAY PROVIDE A FORUM FOR CHALLENGING PATRIARCHY?

THE HIGHER THE DENSITY AND GREATER DIVERSITY FOUND IN CENTRAL CITIES SERVES AS A CHALLENGE TO THE PATRIARCHY [FOUND IN THE HOME AND WORKPLACE IN LOWER-DENSITY, HOMOGENEOUS AREAS SUCH AS SUBURBS AND RURAL AREAS.] RESIDENCE WHO DIFFER IN MARITAL STATUS, PATERNITY, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, CLASS AND/OR RACE/ETHNICITY TEND TO LIVE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY, AND SHARE THE COMMON BELIEF THAT PATRIARCHY SHOULD BE ELIMINATED.

[UPSHOT] SOCIAL PROBLEM: CITY OFFERS THE ULTIMATE GENDER PARADOX - IT CAN BE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT PUTS WOMEN AT EXTREME RISK; OR IT COULD BE THE VEHICLE FOR LIBERATION - HOW WOULD YOU ENSURE THE LATTER?

EX: URBAN PLANNING (SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS FOCUS); LEGALLY (SEVERE SANCTIONS)

PART II è GENDER JUSTICE AND GENDER STRATIFICATION SYSTEM SYSTEMS

GENDER REFERS TO THE PERSONAL TRAITS AND SOCIAL POSITION THAT MEMBERS OF A SOCIETY ATTACH TO BEING MALE AND FEMALE. GENDER INVOLVES HIERARCHY, CAUSING SOCIOLOGISTS TO TALK OF GENDER STRATIFICATION, THE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH, POWER, AND PRIVILEGE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN.

GENDER STRATIFICATION SYSTEM – MEANS THAT THERE ARE NOT ONLY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN - THERE ARE ALSO "STATUS ISSUES ATTACHED" TO THESE DIFFERENCES [THERE IS AN UP AND DOWN RANKING SCALE BASED ON GENDER].

THERE ARE TWO OVERRIDING QUESTIONS FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH: (1) WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF GENDER INEQUALITY OR THE “GENDER WAGE GAP” IN CANADA?, AND (2) HOW IS “OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION” AND/OR “GENDER DISCRIMINATION” RELATED TO THE PAY GAP?

THE GENDER WAGE GAP REFERS TO THE DISPARITY BETWEEN WOMEN'S AND MEN'S EARNINGS. IT IS CALCULATED BY DIVIDING WOMEN'S EARNING'S BY MEN'S TO YIELD A PERCENTAGE – "EARNINGS RATIO".

1) FOUR DIMENSIONS OF A GENDERED SOCIETY [PP155]

i) ALL SOCIETIES MAKE DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE (ALTHOUGH SOME HAVE MOR FLUID NOTIONS OF GENDER, INCLUDING INTERSEXED AND TRANSGENDERED PERSONS)

ii) SOCIETIES TEND TO ENDORSE A DIVISION OF LABOUR, WITH MEN MONOPOLIZING THE PUBLIC DOMAIN OF POLITICS (FROM DIPLOMACY TO ARMED CONFLICT), WHILE WOMEN TEND TO GRAVITATE TOWARD THE PRIVATE REALM OF THE MATERNAL AND DOMESTIC.

iii) MALE PUBLIC-DOMAIN ACTIVITIES ARE USUALLY VALUED AS SUPERIOR, WHERE AS THE PRIVATE (MATERNAL, DOMESTIC) WORLD OF WOMEN IS DEVALUED AS INFERIOR OR IRRELEVANT, OR EVEN DANGEROUS.

iv) THE DEVALUATION EVENTUALLY BECOMES DEEPLY EMBEDDED WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF SOCIETY (PATRIARCHY) BY WAY OF VALUES AND STGRUCTURES THAT APPEAR TO BE NORMAL, NECESSARY, AND NEUTRAL (RATHER THAN CONSTRUCTED, CONTINGENT, ANDS GENDER-BASED) IN DEFINING NOTIONS OF WHAT IS RIGHT, ACCEPTABLE, AND DESIRABLE.

2) MALE-FEMALE WAGE DIFFERENCES REVEAL THAT GENDER IS A MAJOR SOURCE OF INEQUALITY IN THE WORKFORCE.

IS THE GAP ATTRIBUTABLE TO OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION? – [OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION IS THE DISTRIBUTION OF PEOPLE BASED UPON DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS, MOST OFTEN GENDER, BOTH ACROSS AND WITHIN OCCUPATIONS AND JOBS è THIS MEANS THAT WOMEN ARE STRATIFIED VERTICALLY AND HORIZONTALLY IN THE WORKPLACE.]

EX: THE MAJORITY OF FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ENROL IN DEGREE PROGRAMS IN EDUCATION, HEALTH PROFESSIONS, FINE ARTS, AND THE HUMANITIES, WHILE MALES CONTINUE TO DOMINATE IN FIELDS OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING.

IS THE GAP ATTRIBUTABLE TO “GENDER DISCRIMINATION”? ALSO KNOW AS SEXISM OR SEX DISCRIMINATION, IS THE APPLICATION OF THE BELIEF OR ATTITUDE THAT THERE ARE CHARACTERISTICS IMPLICIT TO ONE'S GENDER THAT INDIRECTLY AFFECT ONE'S ABILITIES IN UNRELATED AREAS.

[SO] WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF GENDER INEQUALITY IN CANADA? è DISCRIMINATION OR PERSONAL MOTIVATION AND CHOICE? IS IT THE INEVITABLE RESULTS OF A FREE MARKET SYSTEM [VERTICAL PYRAMID THEORY]? IS IT CLASS EXPLOITATION [INVERTED PYRAMID THEORY]? IS IT GENDER DISCRIMINATION [HORIZONTAL PYRAMID THEORY]?

3) FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES è OFFER VARIOUS, SOMETIMES COMPETING, “SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST” EXPLANATIONS FOR THE PERVASIVENESS OF RELATIONSHIPS OF DOMINATION AND SUBORDINATION BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN è AND FOR A RANGE OF UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT THE CHANGES REQUIRED TO REDRESS EXPLOITATIVE AND OPPRESSIVE RELATIONSHIPS.

FEMINISTS HAVE ARGUED THAT MEN OF THE ELITES HAVE HAD PRIVILEGED ACCESS TO CREATING KNOWLEDGE – THAT IS, TO DEVELOPING THE DESCRIPTIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS ABOUT THE WORLD THAT ARE DEEMED IMPORTANT FOR EDUCATED PEOPLE TO KNOW è THIS MEANS THAT DOMINANT GROUPS ALSO HAVE THE POWER TO OMIT, TO ENSURE THAT WHAT THEY HAVE DEEMED TRIVIAL HAS BEEN OMITTED FROM THE LIST OF INDISPENSABLE WORKS – THE CANONS – OF VARIOUS DISCIPLINARY KNOWLEDGE è WHEN THOSE WHO DO NOT SHARE THE BELIEF IN THEIR TRIVIALITY QUESTION SUCH OMISSIONS, BOTH THE OMISSIONS AND THEIR AVOCATES ARE OFTEN DISMISSED AS TOO SUBJECTIVE, EMOTION-LADEN, OR NARROW.

FEMINISTS HAVE ADDRESSED WHAT HAS BEEN LEFTOUT, FILLING IN THE SILENCES è IN THIS PROCESS, THEY DEPOSE, FROM ITS PRIVILEGED LOCATION, THAT WHICH WAS PREVIOUSLY CONSIDERED KNOWLEDGE, AND THEY CALL INTO QUESTION THE ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS THROUGH WHICH THAT KNOWLEDGE HAS BEEN CREATED AND SHARED.

4) HOW HAVE FEMINISTS GENERALLY ADDRESSED THE RELATIONSHIPS OF DOMINATION AND SUBORDINATION BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN?

A) THEY HAVE EXPLORED THE NATURE OF REPRODUCTIVE LABOUR AND MALE CONTROL OF FEMALE SEXUALITY.

B) THEY HAVE REFASHIONED MARXISM IN THEIR ATTEMPTS TO UNDERSTAND THE RELATION BETWEEN CLASS AND GENDER.

C) FEMINISTS OF COLOUR HAVE INSISTED THAT WHITE FEMINISTS ACKNOWLEDGE AND DISMANTLE THEIR OWN RACISM, INCLUDING THE RACISM INHERENT IN THE THEORIES THAT THEY HAVE DEVELOPED {I.E., THE “UNIVERSALISTIC” ASSUMPTION THAT SEXUAL HIERARCHY CONSTITUTES THE MOST BASIC AND IMPORTANT FORM OF INEQUALITY FOR ALL WOMEN è HERE, MANY WOMEN AND THEIR EXPERIENCES ARE WRITTEN OUT OF FEMINIST SCRIPTS BY REMAINING SILENT ON THE PRIVILEGES OF WHITENESS è (SOCIOLOGICAL ASIDE: CONSTITUTES CURRENT CRITIQUE OF FEMINIST THOUGHT: THE VARIOUS PROGRAMS FOR EQUALITY ARE [SILENTLY] PREDICATED ON THE PERPETUATION OF RACIALIZED PRIVILEGE FOR WHITE WOMEN)}.

D) PSYCHOANALYIC THEORIES HAVE BEEN REREAD FOR WHAT THEY REVEAL ABOUT POWER, CONTROL, MISOGYNY, AND INTERNALIZED OPPRESSION.

E) LESBIAN AND GAY MEN HAVE PUT THE OPPRESSIVE SYSTEM OF HETEROSEXISM ON THE AGENDA AND HAVE RELATED IT TO MALE PRIVILEGE, RACIAL STEREOTYPES, AND CLASS EXPLOITATION.

F) FEMINISTS HAVE TAKEN UP CRITICAL ISSUES RAISED WITHIN THE TRANSGENDER MOVEMENT TO SHOW THE ARBITRARINESS NOT ONLY OF SEXUAL ASSIGNMENT AT BIRTH BUT ALSO THE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE FIT BETWEEN BIOLOGICAL SEX AND GENDER.

G) FEMINISTS HAVE BEEN DRAWN TO THE THEORIES OF POSTSTRUCTURALISM AND DECONSTRUCTIONISM AND HAVE TURNED THEM INTO POWERFUL WAYS OF EXAMINING HOW LANGUAGE CREATES, SUSTAINS, AND CONSTRAINS OUR SENSE OF WHO WE ARE AND, AT THE SAME TIME, HOW LANGUAGE, BY ITS VOLATILITY AND FLEXIBILITY, MAY OPEN UP THE SPACES FOR CHALLENGES TO DOMINANT DISCOURSES.

TAKEN TOGETHER, FEMINIST THEORIES INVOLVE A MASSIVE CRITIQUE OF EVERY ASPECT OF SOCIETIES, PAST AND PRESENT; RELATIONSHIPS, INSTITUTIONS, BEHAVIOURS, DISCOURSES, THOUGHT, AND IDEAS (HAMILTON, 2005: 3).

5) FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES

LIBERAL FEMINISTS

1) MAIN SOURCE OF GENDER INEQUALITY IS THE "PROCESS OF SOCIALIZATION" (LEARNING PROCESS BY WHICH YOU ACQUIRE THE KNOWLEDGE, SKILL, AND MOTIVATIONS REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN SOCIAL LIFE).

2) THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT SHAPED WOMEN’S LIVES WERE THE LAWS AND PREJUDICES (SHARED BY MEN AND WOMEN) THAT EXCLUDED THEM FROM THE PUBLIC SPHERE AND FROM THE RIGHT TO EARN THEIR OWN LIVING ON AN EQUAL FOOTING WITH MEN.

3) WOMEN STRUGGLED FOR THE RIGHT TO HIGHER EDUCATION, ENTRANCE INTO THE PROFESSIONS, THE RIGHT TO OWN PROPERTY AND HOLD PUBLIC OFFICE, AND FOR SUFFRAGE, THE RIGHT THAT CAME TO SYMBOLIZE FULL CITIZENSHIP.

4) THE SOLUTION: – EDUCATION è REMOVE INDIVIDUAL IGNORANCE. THEREFORE, THESE LAWS AND THE PREJUDICES THAT UNDERWROTE THEM WOULD GRADUALLY BE REPLACED BY EXTENDING EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY TO WOMEN.

SOCIALIST FEMINISM:

1) OPPRESSIVE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SEXES ARE NOT SIMPLY DERIVATIVE OF CLASS. THE INTERCONNECTIONS BETWEEN SEX OPPRESSION AND CLASS EXPLOITATION HAD TO BE ADDRESSED.

2) A. FOCUSED ON THE LABOUR DONE BY WOMEN IN THE HOUSEHOLD—CALLED DOMESTIC LABOUR—HELPS TO SUSTAIN THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM.

(A) REARING CHILDREN;

(B) SUSTAINING HUSBANDS.

RESULT: BOTH CAPITALISTS AND INDIVIDUAL MEN BENEFIT FROM THE UNPAID AND PERSONAL SERVICE OF WOMEN IN THE HOME.

3) SOME SOCIALIST FEMINISTS ANALYZED THE INTERCONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE PUBLIC SPHERE OF CAPITALIST AND STATE RELATIONS AND THE PRIVATE SPHERE OF THE FAMILY/ HOUSEHOLD.

(A) CAPITALISM DONE AT FRACTION OF THE COST;

(B) THE APPEARANCE OF THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SUSTAINS THE UNEQUAL RELATIONS BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN THROUGHOUT SOCIETY.

4) SOLUTION: OVERCOME THE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SPLIT è FAMILY WAGE; DENIAL OF EDUCATION; NO SOCIAL SUPPORTS FOR CHILD CARE.

RADICAL FEMINIST

1) GENDER INEQUALITY IS ROOTED IN THE MATERIAL CONDITIONS OF MEN AND WOMEN. THE BIOLOGICAL FAMILY IS AN INHERENTLY UNEQUAL POWER DISTRIBUTION.

LIKE MARXISM WHICH CONTENDS: MONOGAMY WAS THE FIRST FORM OF THE FAMILY TO BE BASED NOT ON NATURAL CONDITIONS BUT ON ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: THE EXCLUSIVE AIMS OF MONOGAMOUS MARRIAGE WERE TO MAKE THE MAN SUPREME IN THE FAMILY AND TO PROPAGATE, AS THE FUTURE HEIRS TO HIS WEALTH, CHILDREN INDISPUTABLY HIS OWN.

2) THE SOLE PURPOSE OF MONOGAMOUS MARRIAGE IS TO SUBJUGATE THE FEMALE SEX TO THE MALE è THEY LOCATE MEN’S POWER OVER WOMEN IN THEIR ABILITY TO CONTROL WOMEN SEXUALLY AND TO DEVELOP THE INSTITUTIONS THAT ENSURE CONTINUING CONTROL.

WESTERN SOCIETIES ARE A FORM OF PATRIARCHY – RULE OF MEN, MEN ARE THE MAIN BENEFICIARIES OF THESE SOCIETIES è IN A WORLD OF UNEQUAL POWER RELATIONS BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN, COMPULSORY HETEROSEXUALITY ENSURES NOT ONLY WOMEN’S SEXUAL DEPENDENCE UPON MEN BUT ALSO THEIR ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DEPENDENCE.

3) THE SOLUTION: THE ELIMINATION OF MEN AND THE TRADITIONAL FAMILY FROM WOMEN'S LIVES -- "COMPULSORY HETEROSEXUALITY" IS THE KEY WAY WOMEN ARE SUBORDINATED AND ENSLAVED IN THIS SOCIETY è WOMEN SHOULD BUILD THEIR OWN INSTITUTIONS FROM HEALTH CLINICS AND WOMEN'S SHELTERS TO SMALL BUSINESSES, ART GALLERIES ETC.

LIBERAL FEMINISM (LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD -- REMOVING DISCRIMINATORY BARRIERS) è MARXIST FEMINISM (WORKERS (WOMEN AND MEN) OF THE WORLD UNITE -- RESTRUCTURE SOCIETY TO ELIMINATE PRIVATE PROPERTY AT THE BASE OF EXPLOITATION) è RADICAL FEMINISM (HEY, HO, PATRIARCHY HAS TO GO – ELIMINATE PATRIARCHY AND THE NUCLEAR FAMILY THAT SUPPORTS IT) è CULTURAL FEMINISM (CELEBRATE AND POLITICIZE WOMEN AS DIFFERENT AND VALUABLE) è RAINBOW FEMINISM (COATS OF MANY COLOURS – WHITE FEMINIST AND FEMINIST OF COLOUR HAVE DIFFERENT AGENDAS WHERE ADDITIONAL PRESSURES RELATED TO RACISM AND ETHNICITY ARE SUPERIMPOSED ON AND INTERSECT GENDER AND CLASS, AMPLIFYING INEQUALITY) è CONSERVATIVE FEMINISM (THE GOOD OLD DAYS –ESPOUSES A VIEW OF EQUALITY THAT ACKNOWLEDGES WOMEN IN TRADITIONAL, MATERNAL, DOMESTIC ROLES TO CURE THE BREAKDOWN IN THE FABRIC OF SOCIETY) è THIRD WAVE FEMINISM (USE “MEDIA AS A TOOL OF RESISTANCE” – RIOT GIRRLS AND ZINES –NEW FORMS OF MEDIA TO DISSEMINATE AND CIRCULATE KNOWLEDGE PERTAINING TO JUSTICE FOR WOMEN – TAKING PLACE WITHIN AN UNDERGROUND CULTURE) è BLACK FEMINISM (HAS ARGUED THAT BLACK WOMEN ARE POSITIONED WITH IN STRUCTURES OF POWER IN FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT WAYS THAN WHITE WOMEN – SEE THEMSELVES AS HAVING STRUGGLED FOR RECOGNITION, NOT ONLY FROM MEN IN THEIR OWN CULTURE, BUT ALSO FROM WESTERN FEMINISTS].

6) MARILYN WARING – THE FOREMOST SPOKESPERSON FOR GLOBAL FEMINIST ECONOMICS {DECONSTRUCTIONISM} – CHALLENGES THE ‘WHITE-MALESTREAM’ MYTHS OF ECONOMICS, ITS ELITIST STANCE, AND OUR TACIT COMPLIANCE WITH POLITICAL AGENDAS THAT MASQUERADE AS OBJECTIVE ECONOMIC POLICY.

WHO’S COUNTING - SHOWS HOW THIS SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED GENDER REALITY [REALITY IS GENDERED] IS EMBEDDED INTO THE DEEP STRUCTURE OR “GLOBAL ECONOMICS’ è SHE ATTEMPTS TO RAISE AWARNESS, AND GIVE WOMEN THE TOOLS AND VOICES TO SHED THIEIR PATRIARCHAL OPPRESSIVE HOLDS – SHE USES THEORY CHALLENGE THE DOMINANT DISCOURSE – AND OPEN UP SPACES

SPECIFICALLY è SHE INTRODUCES A THEORY OF “GLOBAL FEMINIST ECONOMICS” èRESISTING THE GENDER BLINDNESS OF THE ‘UNITED NATIONS – SYSTEM OF NATIONAL ACCOUNTS’.

HER GOAL: STIMULATE THE INTELLECTUAL ENGAGEMENT OF STUDENTS OF SOCIETY AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ORDER TO PROMOTE PROGRESSIVE SOCIAL CHANGE

TIME USE SURVEYS è CHALLENGING THE DEFINITION OF WOMEN’S WORK AS TRIVIAL

1. WOMEN'S WORK AND THE GDP {UN SYSTEM OF NATIONAL ACCOUNTS

{BECAUSE IT IS NOT EXCHANGED FOR DOLLARS, WOMEN'S WORK IS NOT COUNTED è AND NOT CONSIDERED PRODUCTIVE èNOT INCLUDED IN GDP, THEREFORE DON'T GET A SENSE OF THE OVERALL WEALTH WOMEN'S WORK IS CREATING è IN END WHEN, WOMEN APPLY FOR PENSIONS THEY ARE SEEN AS A BURDEN (INSULT TO INJURY)

2. TIME CHARTS

{ALTERNATIVES èTIME CHARTS OF PRODUCTIVITY è WHEN THE SUN WAS HERE, WHAT WERE YOU DOING? è “TIME USE SURVEYS”}

3. ELEMENTS OF VALUE AND EXCHANGE

ECONOMIST COUNT DISASTERS LIKE EXXON VALDEZ BECAUSE IT CREATES WORK AND VALUE ---

4. PRODUCTIVITY [ASSESSMENT/ MEASUREMENT]

HOW CAN PRODUCTIVITY BE RECALIBRATED? TIME USE SURVEYS? HOW DO WE MAKE WOMEN COUNT?